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Villages / Valais / Sion district / Tourbillon

Tourbillon

Site Canton of Valais · District: Sion · Uninhabited site (municipality of Sion)
Part of the municipality of Sion
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Tourbillon

The hill and the castle share the same name, whose meaning is unknown.

Founding of Tourbillon

Tourbillon is a rocky hill in the municipality of Sion, north-east of the old town and of Valère. It rises about 180 m above the plain, and its top measures about 200 m from east to west and 50 m from north to south. Excavations have revealed settlement there from the 5th century BC. In the Middle Ages the site served as a lookout post in wartime. The castle grew out of a need for defence: Bishop Boniface de Challant had it built to protect Sion against the rebel nobility led by Pierre IV de la Tour.[1]

History of Tourbillon

5th century BC. Archaeological excavations show that the hill is inhabited.[1]

Middle Ages. The site serves as a lookout post in wartime.[1]

around 1294. Bishop Boniface de Challant has the castle built (from 1297-1298 to 1308 according to another source).[1][2]

first half of the 14th century. The bishops make Tourbillon their favourite residence.[2]

1352-1361 and 1384-1392. The counts of Savoy occupy and administer the fortress.[1]

1373. Bishop Guichard Tavel acquires the castle of la Majorie. Tourbillon becomes a temporary residence while keeping its defensive role.[2]

1417. During the Rarogne affair, the people of Upper Valais take the castle and partly destroy it.[1]

1440-1450. Bishop Guillaume III de Rarogne has the castle restored and the chapel repainted. The bishops then use it as a summer residence.[1][2]

1447. Guillaume de Rarogne reconsecrates the chapel.[2]

1788. The fire of Sion destroys the castle, the portrait gallery of the bishops and old holdings of the episcopal archives.[1][2][3]

1878-1887. Restoration of the ruins.[2]

1966-1969. A new restoration. In 1967-1968 the 15th-century painted decoration in the chapel is removed.[2]

1977. The ruins are entered in the inventory of monuments of national importance.[1]

1993-1996. A further restoration campaign takes place.[2]

Historic sites in Tourbillon

Castle chapel. Probably dedicated originally to Saint George, it was reconsecrated in 1447 to Saints George and Gratus, bishop of Aosta, and to Blessed William, provost of Neuchâtel. Its rib-vaulted choir keeps a rare medieval painted decoration from around 1320-1340: Annunciation, Crucifixion, King David as a musician, Saint George slaying the dragon. The decoration painted over it in the mid-15th century, removed in 1967-1968, is displayed in the nave.[2]

Remains in Tourbillon

Castle ruins. Destroyed by the fire of 1788, the ruins were consolidated in the late 19th century and in the 20th century. The residential wing keeps stepped gables renewed in the 15th century.[1][2]

Sources

  1. Dizionario storico della Svizzera, « Tourbillon » (Bernard Truffer, versione del 29.10.2012)
  2. Office fédéral de la protection de la population, Inventaire suisse des biens culturels d'importance nationale (PBC), « Château de Tourbillon », n° 7044 (texte du Guide artistique de la Suisse, SHAS)
  3. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Sion (commune) » (François Wiblé, Bernard Truffer, Lucienne Hubler, version du 16.11.2017)
  4. geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées de la colline)

Other villages near Tourbillon

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